Effects of the transcendental meditation program on stress reduction, health, and employee development: A prospective study in two occupational settings

Neuroimaging of meditation's effect on brain reactivity to pain

“…We hypothesized that the Transcendental Meditation program would reduce the brain's response to pain because neuroimaging and autonomic studies indicate that it produces a state of psychophysiological quiescence [12], which over time resolves the physiological conditions underlying various kinds pain [13][14][15][16]. In time, it reduces trait anxiety [17], improves stress reactivity [12], and decreases distress from acute pain [18].…”

“…The resolution of the physiological sources of pain (mechanism 2) through the Transcendental Meditation program is indicated by reduced frequency of pain symptoms in industrial workers [13], reduced headaches and backaches [14], decreased pain during pregnancy and childbirth, [15] and reduced medical care utilization for pain-related conditions such as chest and abdominal pain [16]. Evidence for mechanism 3 is that the Transcendental Meditation technique reduces trait anxiety [17], produces lower resting baseline levels of sympathetic arousal outside the practice as well as improving stress reactivity [12].…”

Spiritual Intelligence Linking to Leadership Effectiveness: Interceding Role of Personality Traits

“…Further Cranson, Orme-Johnson, Gackenbach, and Dillbeck (1991) proposed that people practicing transcendental meditation improved their IQ score and learning acquisition over a 2-year periodcompared to control group. Alexander, Charles, Swanson, Gerald, Rainforth, Maxwell, et al (1993) discovered that workers who practiced meditation over a 3-month period were found with low anxiety and stress, with high job satisfaction, and they also improved their personal interactions at workplace. Ellison (1983) work on measuring spirituality demonstrated the two aspects of Spiritual Well Being Scale including spiritual belief and existential well-being (EWB).…”

Developing consciousness in organizations: The transcendental meditation program in business

“…They incorporated longitudinal assessments, demographically similar controls drawn from the same organization, standardized measures, and multi-dimensional questionnaires. One study used second-site replication (Alexander et al, 1993), one supplemented questionnaires with interviews (Gustavsson, 1992), and three made use of direct physiological measures (Alexander et al, 1993;Gustavsson, 1992;DeArmond, Alexander, & Stevens, 1994). This shii~ toward more sophisticated methodologies reflects earlier recommendations (Newman & Beehr, 1979;Porras & Berg, 1978), and parallels the general trend toward more rigor in stress management and organizational research (see Ivancevich, Matteson, Freedman, & Phillips, 1990;Nicholas & Katz, 1985;Porras & Berg, 1978).…”